AJ Allmendinger gets all set for Watkins Glen

AJ Allmendinger will be third time behind the wheel of the No. 47 car.

AJ Allmendinger at Watkins Glen International:

This weekend AJ Allmendinger is slated to race the No. 47 SCOTT Products Toyota Camry for JTG Daugherty Racing in the Cheez-It 335 At The Glen. This is his third time behind the wheel of the No. 47 car.

In four starts at Watkins Glen International, the 31-year-old has one top-five and two top-10 finishes.

The California native's finishes at the road course include 11th, 13th, fourth and eighth respectively since his first visit in 2008. His best start is second place (8/15/11).

Allmendinger's average finish is 9.0 and his average start is 15.3. His average running position of 14.2, ninth-best and his driver rating of 92.4, eighth-best.

JTG DAUGHERTY RACING QUOTES:

AJ Allmendinger

Photo by: Mike Geng

CONTROLLING HIS LEVEL OF EXCITEMENT: "I am excited about Watkins Glen (International), but I do not want to be overly excited," AJ Allmendinger said. "We have a really good starting package with our No. 47 SCOTT Products Toyota Camry. Of course, the track will change over the weekend with the rubber build up.

"When we tested there last week, we had good speed," continued Allmendinger. "This is one of my favorite tracks and that is why I am trying to maintain my excitement level. I don't want to be overly confident and we will take it as it comes. We have the potential of having a really good weekend."

ROAD COURSE RACER AT HEART: "My background is road course racing," Allmendinger said. "Watkins Glen is more of a commitment and is different than Sonoma (Raceway). You cannot bend your fenders at Watkins Glen and you have to take care of your equipment. It is a place I always enjoy racing. We were up to speed with our SCOTT Products Toyota Camry at the test. We will see where we shake out on Sunday. We feel good about it."

TEAM EXCELS ON WINDING ROADS: "JTG Daugherty Racing has excelled at road courses," Allmendinger said. "Marcos Ambrose drove for them a few years ago, but he is the type of guy that is fast no matter what he is in. Since Marcos was there, the team has done a great job of continuing to build good road course cars. Unfortunately, during the last road course race at Sonoma Raceway, they had mechanical problems before the green flag that took Bobby Labonte out of the race. They had pretty good laps times during practice. The car had speed and it's a shame Bobby did not get to race. Hopefully, we can build off of what we learned at the test and bring home a solid finish."

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS: "I enjoy being around the guys at JTG Daugherty Racing because they are fun to be around," Allmendinger said. "I've had a great time bonding with them. It is important to build good relationships. We are testing Atlanta Motor Speedway today and we are trying to figure it out. Being a single-car team, they don't have a lot of test days. So, we are gathering as many notes as we can to try to narrow down the gap of what we have to work on."

DAUGHERTY ON TESTING WITH ALLMENDINGER AT WATKINS GLEN LAST WEEK: “We did some testing with AJ Allmendinger at Watkins Glen International," JTG Daugherty Racing co-owner Brad Daugherty said. "It is going to be a great opportunity for us. He is an excellent road racer and I know our guys are really excited for it. We have kind of a road racing lineage from when our NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team started because of having Marcos Ambrose in our car, who is also an excellent road racer.

"Being able to put AJ in the car is going to be a great shot in the arm for our team because it is a unique race and he is a unique talent that plugs well into what we are trying to do," continued Daugherty. "We learned some things when we tested with set-ups and fuel-runs. We have seen fuel mileage play a very important role at road course races and Watkins Glen in particular. We are pleased about the opportunity and look forward to going back there this weekend with AJ in the car. We are hoping to get our No. 47 SCOTT Products Toyota Camry up front.”